COUNCIL workers will fly across the pond in a bid to recruit social workers from America this month.

Herefordshire Council has embarked on the trans-Atlantic recruitment drive due to a national shortage in social workers.

Interviewers will fly to Atlanta, Georgia, later this month to interview 16 candidates over five days.

For each successfully-recruited social worker the council will pay Pulse Recruitment, a specialist social care recruitment agency, £4,000.

The fee includes travel and accommodation costs for interviewers to travel to America, as well as documentation, checking, visas and work permits.

Shaun McLurg, head of safeguarding and assessment, said: "Many other local authorities have resorted to recruiting social workers from Australia, Canada and the USA.

"For Herefordshire, this will be a more cost-effective solution than using agency staff, as each one costs an extra £20,000 per year when compared with a full time social worker employed by the council, and it also compares favourably with the costs of a national recruitment campaign."

The council has struggled to recruit sufficient qualified and experienced social workers in recent years, despite extensive local and national advertising campaigns.

"Whilst we will continue to strive to recruit staff locally and nationally we have a statutory obligation to safeguard vulnerable children in Herefordshire, and so must consider every available option to ensure we have sufficiently-qualified staff to meet this challenge," said Mr McLurg.